plants depicted above were two feet tall when placed outside into an 8×10 greenhouse in early August in Northern California (they began life indoors), whereupon, due to fewer hours of available light, they immediately began the flowering process. The plants reached full maturation in early/mid-October, and thus were in the greenhouse a total of eight-and-a-half weeks. This set-up was easy to produce and maintain. With added ventilation, heat, supplemental lighting, and a a good quality climate controller climate controller, this greenhouse produced the same quality of harvest throughout the winter months.
Greenhouse Grow Operations
Outdoor cannabis greenhouse with ceiling fans for air circulation.
A roving aisle allows easy access to every plant.
Photos: Better
Massive airflow is a must in a greenhouse.
Greenhouse extraction fan seen from exterior of garden.
Shade cloths are drawn to cover plants when the sun is at its most intense period of the day to eliminate unnecessary excessive leaf temperatures.
Elevated leaf temperatures cause unnecessary stress on the plants. Sun shades must be used in excessive light situations.
Photos: Better
Cola produced in a greenhouse garden.
Flowering cannabis in large cannabis greenhouse.
Flowering cannabis in large cannabis greenhouse.
Extraction fan to keep humidity and temperature levels appropriate in the greenhouse.
Photos: Better
The shade cloth visible in this photo can also be drawn in the evening to keep the plants warm at night and conserve energy on heating.
A worker tending to the plants in a greenhouse.
Small grow tents such as this, are perfect for hardening off clones.
Photos: K
1. Always fasten thick, weed-inhibiting cloth on the floor of the greenhouse; it is available at any nursery supply store. This discourages weed growth inside the greenhouse that may encourage insect infestation. If growing in containers simply place them on top of the cloth. If growing in the ground, simply cut access holes to the soil through the cloth where you intend on planting. Make sure you clear all weeds and rocks below the greenhouse prior to fastening the cloth.
2. The best position for a greenhouse is to have its longest side run north–south; this will help to avoid excess temperatures in summer.
3. Use anti-hotspot tape to stop heat from the metal frame causing weak spots in the clear Visqueen / plastic. The tape will extend the life of the clear cover by a year.
4. Seedlings and clones that have been started indoors, under artificial lights, require a period of “hardening off” before being planted outdoors. This involves gradually acclimatizing them to outdoor conditions over a period of two weeks. Start by placing them outside in a slightly shaded area during the day and bring them indoors at night. Gradually increase the time that they spend outdoors until they are outside all of the time. Without hardening off, the plants will burn, suffer stress, and growth will be temporarily slowed. With this in mind, it is best to start your plants indoors where the elements are less severe and they have a greater chance of survival.
Grow space prior to the installation of a garden.
This empty space was used to build an inexpensive, simple, yet very clean and productive (albeit hobbyist) growroom. The ceiling height (16 feet) is perfect for heat dissipation, which is required when using many HID lights. The rest of the space was used for materials for clean up, storage, trimming, etc.
These mother plants produced enough clones to keep the growroom behind them full of plants year-round. The mothers grow in a separate “vegetative room” under 18 hours of light to keep them from flowering.
Multiple cultivars in the flowering chamber.
Photos: K
Flowering Chamber
With the mother plants removed you can see the flowering chamber behind them. With simple
